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Russian Battles Over Historical Narratives: the Case of Prague’S Konev Statue

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Russian Battles Over Historical Narratives: the Case of Prague’S Konev Statue REPORT RUSSIAN BATTLES OVER HISTORICAL NARRATIVES: THE CASE OF PRAGUE’S KONEV STATUE 2020 EUROPEAN VALUES CENTER FOR SECURITY POLICY European Values Center for Security Policy is a non-governmental, non-partisan institute defending freedom and sovereignty. We protect liberal democracy, the rule of law, and the transatlantic alliance of the Czech Republic. We help defend Europe especially from the malign influences of Russia, China, and Islamic extremists. We envision a free, safe, and prosperous Czechia within a vibrant Central Europe that is an integral part of the transatlantic community and is based on a firm alliance with the USA. Our work is based on individual donors. Use the form at: http://www.europeanvalues.net/o-nas/support- us/, or send your donation directly to our transparent account: CZ69 2010 0000 0022 0125 8162. www.europeanvalues.net [email protected] www.facebook.com/Evropskehodnoty Author David Stulík, Senior Analyst of the Kremlin Watch Program, European Values Center for Security Policy Acknowledgment to contributing authors: Zuzana Činčerová, Marco Cardinali This report has been prepared as a background paper for the second Czech-Polish workshop related to countering Russian disinformation & manipulation of historical facts. This workshop is to be held under the project supported by the Czech-Polish Forum. Image Copyright: Page 1: WikiPedia / Gampe Page 5: WikiPedia / gette 2 1. CONTEXT The recent escalation in relations between the Czech Republic and Russia, relating to the removal of a Marshal Konev statue, is just another case of Russia waging a “battle” with a post-Communist country over historical narratives. This certainly won’t be the last clash over the interpretation of historical events and presentation of the Soviet Union and its leaders. The more Russia continues to look to the past in search of its modern identity and perceived status as a global superpower, the less critical and balanced its view of 20th century history becomes. Russian leadership, which builds its own legitimacy by drawing parallels with the Soviet Union, whose crimes it attempts to hide, is becoming “a hostage” of this unilateral and uncompromised interpretation of its own history. This in turn leads to confrontations with former Soviet satellites and post-Soviet republics over differing interpretations. The Kremlin has, for a long time, sought to (re)interpret 20th century history, in particular WWII. Russia has attempted to monopolise this history and, therefore, any challenges to the role and actions of the Soviet Union are direct challenges to Russia itself. The removal of a Bronze Soldier monument in Tallinn (in 2007) is often seen as the first of the clashes regarding historical narratives. Since then, these disputes have intensified and become more frequent. Furthermore, Russia has used more sophisticated and aggressive methods “to promote” its own historical narratives. These methods only fuel further escalation in its bilateral relations with various post-Communist countries. Below, we not only provide some basic facts and a timeline documenting the recent escalation of the conflict around the removal of the Marshal Konev statue, but also an overview of similar historical disputes between Russian and other post-Communist countries. We conclude with a set of recommendations that the Czech authorities should undertake. These recommendations are rather universal and, as such, could be applied by any other state that finds itself in a situation similar to that of the Czech Republic. 3 The removal of a Bronze Soldier monument in Tallinn (in 2007) is often seen as the first of the clashes regarding historical narratives. 4 2. SIMILAR WWII-RELATED DISPUTES BETWEEN RUSSIA AND POST- COMMUNIST COUNTRIES IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE Poland After the European Parliament approved a resolution in September 2019 that emphasised the decisive role played by the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and its secret protocol in starting WWII, Russian President Putin intensified his efforts to downplay the significance of the pact and point to other events seen as instrumental in starting the war. In December 2019, during a CIS summit, Putin affirmed that Poland were responsible for the outbreak of WWII and accused, among others, the then Polish authorities of colluding with Hitler before the partition of Czechoslovakia, driven by their appetite for expansion: “It is noteworthy that representatives of Poland were not invited to the Munich conference, and that their interests there were in fact represented by Hitler. It was well known to other European countries, including to both Great Britain and France, that Germany and Poland acted together. It was them [the Polish authorities] who, while pursuing their mercenary and exorbitantly overgrown ambitions, laid their people, the Polish people, open to attack from Germany’s military machine, and, moreover, generally contributed to the beginning of the Second World War”. This “specific” reading of history was strongly condemned by Polish and European authorities. In Russia, however, the rehabilitation of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and the falsification of the events around the start of WWII seem to bear fruit: according to a poll conducted by the Levada Centre among the Russian population, 53 percent of respondents believed in 2019 that “the Red Army occupied part of eastern Poland in September 1939 in order to help the local Ukrainian and Belarusian population”. Only 16 percent acknowledged that Stalin and Hitler had agreed to divide Poland between them. For a debunking of Putin’s historical narratives on the start of World War II, see: https://foreignpolicy. com/2020/01/21/vladimir-putin-wants-to-rewrite-the-history-of-world-war-ii/ Baltics Putin’s rehabilitation of Soviet-era leaders and symbols, his attempts to redeem the darker pages of Soviet history, have produced examples of historical revisionism in relation to the Baltic Republics too. Since the mid-2000s, the Kremlin has been increasingly inclined to deny Soviet occupation of the Baltics during WWII, replacing it with the version of their voluntary incorporation and “liberation” from Nazi occupation. During a 2005 press conference, held a few days before the celebrations of May 9th, the Kremlin’s European affairs chief Sergei Yastrzhembsky stated: “There was no occupation, there were agreements at the time with the legitimately elected authorities in the Baltic countries… One cannot use the term ‘occupation’ to describe those historical events, at that time, the troop deployment took place on an agreed basis and with the clearly expressed agreement of the existing authorities in the Baltic republics”. In reality, Soviet troops illegally entered the Baltics in June 1940, as foreseen in the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, before being driven out by Nazi forces one year later. At the end of the war, the Red Army retook the Baltics and incorporated them into the Soviet Union. 5 Putin himself discouraged this version of history when, in 2005, through a syllogism, he suggested: “If the Baltic countries had joined the Soviet Union in 1939, then in 1945 the Soviet Union could not have occupied them, because they were already part of the Soviet Union”. This was in part a response to the refusal of the presidents of Estonia and Lithuania to participate in the Moscow celebrations of Victory Day.The presidents of the three Baltic Republics issued a joint statement inviting all European leaders to counter Russia’s attempts to revise history. More on the Kremlin’s refusal to acknowledge the forcible annexation of the Baltic states can be read here: https://lithuaniatribune.com/anatomy-of-russias-information-warfare-in-the-baltic-states/ and here: https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2015/07/14/how-russia-sees-baltic-sovereignty-a48143 Bulgaria In late 2017, Russia’s MFA spokesperson Maria Zakharova’s comments regarding the vandalism of a Monument to the Soviet Army in Sofia caused outrage in Bulgaria. Condemning the authors of the anti-Semitic slogans on the monument, she commented: “This is especially cynical considering that during WWII our soldiers prevented the deportation of Jews from Bulgaria and saved some 50,000 people from imminent death. What is particularly appalling here is not even the act of vandalism itself, but that those who committed it are absolutely ignorant about their own history”. Her comments were met with harsh criticism from across Bulgaria’s political spectrum and society, even receiving condemnation from more pro-Russian forces in the country like the Defence Minister and the leader of the far-right Bulgarian National Movement Krasimir Karakachanov – who called Zakharova’s comments a “historical scandal”. As noted, the rescue of Bulgarian Jews from Nazi camps is a point of national pride for many Bulgarians. In March 1943, Boris III, the then king of Nazi-allied Bulgaria, refused to hand over Bulgaria’s Jews who were set to be deported, yielding to the pressure of Bulgarian politicians and Church. Following Zakharova’s words, the Bulgarian MFA released a statement noting that: “It was not the Soviet army, but the Bulgarian people who saved the Bulgarian Jews. When representatives of the Bulgarian political, economic and intellectual elite … and senior hierarchs of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church stood with the Jews gathered for deportation, the Red Army was thousands of kilometres away from the borders of Bulgaria”. Moscow has failed to officially denounce Zakharova’s claims. The full story can be read here: https://sofiaglobe.com/2017/11/05/russian-embassy-in-sofia-attempts-new- spin-in-row-on-claims-soviets-rescued-bulgarian-jews-from-holocaust/; for the reactions to Zakharova’s statement among the Jewish community outside Bulgaria, see: https://www.ajc.org/news/ajc-ceo-david- harris-responds-to-russian-historical-revisionism-on-bulgaria 6 3. TIMELINE OF THE CONFLICT AROUND THE REMOVAL OF MARSHAL KONEV´S STATUE AND RESPECTIVE RUSSIAN REACTIONS 1980 • A statue of Marshal Ivan Konev was erected in May 1980 in Czechoslovakia.
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